TAMIYA P-51D Mustang Hobby Model Kit (TM60322), 168 months to 1200 months

Hats Off To Tamiya!The Purchase:As with the majority of my Amazon purchased, everything arrived in perfect condition and on time.Breakdown of the kit:I explored the contents of the box very carefully, this was the first time I have ever had a kit with so many parts. I was very impressed with the overall packaging. The photo etched parts, canopies and hardware come in a separate compartment. The decal sheet, instructions, detail booklet and the larger detail sheet are all outstanding! After inspection of the parts, I came to realize that this kit has a ton of details unlike other kits of the same scale!The build:This is my first attempt building a kit with this much detail. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of details in the instructions. I will also add, I made a few mistakes because I did not follow them to the letter! The engine parts on the sprue also include parts from the Spitfire so make sure you double check your part numbers! I messed up on an engine part and it was an easy fix because I happened to be reading another review of the kit at the same time! The etched parts were fairly large and easy to work with. There are a lot of area's that require special attention that include magnets and other hardware. Follow the directions and you'll be just fine! After getting the engine and cockpit together, I noticed how perfectly everything had fit together. Also, with the added hardware, everything seems very strong and durable. The tail wheel fit is the only area that had me in a jam. There was a slight gap that I cured by adding and sanding styrene to the fuselage. After that little detour, everything was great. The landing gear is all assembled with metal pins and should be plenty strong. It's been sitting in the display case for nearly 4 months and it has not dropped at all! I have read a few reviews that state the tail gear as being weak, so far, I disagree. Almost forgot, I had a bit of a fit issue with the upper cowling not wanting to sit flush. After I sanded the inside edges a little bit, it was snug as can be!The result:I painted my kit to reflect "Petie the 2nd". I am very happy with the results of this build. I was scared to death before I started. I am used to building mostly 1/48 scale kits right out of the box...this kit has opened my eyes to a variety of new area's. I am no longer afraid of etched metal or metallic finishes. This kit has opened my eyes to a new world of detail and now I look forward to doing a lot more of these!I FULLY recommend this kit to anyone intermediate/pro. If you are new to the hobby, start with a few 1/48 kits and work your way up.Awesome Kit Tamiya...Thank You!

Possibly the most epic kit I’ve ever purchased. Tamiya delivers perfection.

The 1/32 scale Tamiya P-51D Mustang is probably the best, most detailed Mustang kit ever released to the mass market. At this writing I'm about 30% of the way through building mine and can say it's miles beyond the Revell and Monogram kits I built as a kid. The amount of detail in this Tamiya kit is impressive, as is the quality of the individual parts themselves, which actually FIT. But it's not cheap at about $100, and if you buy all the paints Tamiya recommends to complete the build properly, you'll be into it for another $100 or so. You'll need things like good tweezers, an X-acto knife, and some needle files to properly complete the kit - for painting, an airbrush is very useful, but not absolutely necessary. Be careful and you'll eventually have a great finished Mustang model. BUT . . . if the model itself still doesn't quite satisfy, there are aftermarket kits that include photo etched metal or resin cast parts as well as decal sheets that will increase the realism - and the cost. But if you choose to go that route, be prepared to paint and manipulate some parts that are literally smaller than a grain of rice. And of course, some purists will "scratch build" things like the ignition harness, add wiring and hydraulic lines, and will even sand off the embossed rivet patterns on the wings so they can add back their own, "more historically accurate" rivet pattern. That the Tamiya kit is still the favored starting point even for exhibition or competition grade Mustang scale models is an indication of just how good the kit is. Do some google and youtube searches and you'll find plenty of additional information and photos.

I have built about a dozen WW2 era fighters/bombers in the last couple of years. Most of those were Tamiya 1/48s. With about 500 pieces, this kit was at a very different level of complexity. In my first try at building this I made a mistake in the engine assembly. I realized the error about 1/3 of the way through and tried to back track and fix the problem. I ended up breaking some pieces, making the kit useless. Determined to try again, I bought another kit and completed it. Unlike some of the other reviewers, I had some serious issues with fit. Those issues included some gaps in fitting the wings to the fuselage and the engine cowlings. In the end, I had to glue the cowlings into place and hide the impressive engine detail. I was able to cover most of the gaps with putty. Based on what others have said about fit, I believe my fit issues had more to do with the quality of my build than issues with the kit. I will say two other things; first, the landing gear build and attachment is very solid (much stronger than other Tamiya models I have built), and second, I think they could eliminate 30 to40 of the tiny detail pieces without materially diminishing the kit.